On the surface, Rev. Moses Coady was a man of contradictions. He rejected bloody revolution, but preached big changes to a society in which so many were treated unfairly.

He was a Catholic priest who embraced other faiths and non-believers (Coady died in 1959, before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council).

The charismatic educator from Margaree liked university life, but saw the harbours and the halls of Cape Breton and eastern mainland Nova Scotia as his real campus. He helped the study clubs in church basements start small projects, but he always thought about a big picture.

Seventy-five years ago, Coady summarized some of his ideas in a popular, fast-paced book, "Masters of Their Own Destiny." It was translated into other languages.

But is it still relevant? Study clubs made sense in the 1920s and 1930s, when underemployed or underpaid workers were not as mobile or connected as now. Co-operatives and credit unions are not novelties today. Governments eventually stepped in to alleviate some of the poverty. And priests and professors must do a lot more in our day to earn people’s trust if they want to serve their communities.

To our ears, there’s even a quaint ring to the stories of the determined study clubs that led to worker-owned fish plants, agricultural marketing pools or small loans for start-up co-ops.

So, yes, "Masters of Their Own Destiny" was a product of its time. And, yes, the language is a bit condescending in places. But it is a timeless piece of practical economic and moral philosophy.

The book has some larger messages.

First, education is a community activity more than a classroom activity. Teachers are also learners. It’s often about learners working together on being entrepreneurial.

Second, we need to infuse more “co-operation” into the market and society. Economics should be a moral discipline seeking a better life for all, not a faceless ideology. Survival of the fittest is wrong, but so is communism, which denies creativity and freedom. There is another way, a mixed way.

Third, petty corruption is poisonous. Woe to the politicians who reward their incompetent friends, play little games and do no thinking of their own.

Fourth, people from universities and churches should be in all the tough places, but not presume that they have all the answers. Humility helps.

And then there’s this (let’s call it the “People’s Place Theory"): For people to matter, place has to matter, culture has to matter. Philosophy and theology don’t just exist in thin air as one-size-fits-all structures or ideas. A global movement has to be rooted locally. It has to start small with trial and error, and even failure.

If Coady were with us today, he would probably find more value in something like the Slow Food movement or ingenious local efforts to turn around a dying village or downtown than in some mega “co-operative” that has anonymous members, a blue-ribbon board and a millionaire CEO.

The process of coming together to solve a problem — a process in which everyone has a part to play — is just as important as the outcome, as long as the process is actually going somewhere. We won’t be masters of our own destiny when every function of life is organized like a big box store. National and international structures must support the local, not suppress it.

Students of globalization observe a paradox: The more we’re connected internationally, the more we need to find our roots and regenerate what grounds us. Universities and faith communities, among others, can actually do a lot to help that along.

Many people are restless and dissatisfied. They feel betrayed by their leaders. The Occupy movement, Idle No More and our tireless local volunteers have shown that a new generation is looking for a better way.

That’s why Moses Coady is worth another read. For, as he put it, “We are still rolling the huge stone up the steep hill.”

Tom Urbaniak is a political scientist at Cape Breton University. He welcomes opportunities to exchange ideas and can be reached at tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca.